StarGlass Quilt: Soften the Volume

This Starglass quilt has to be my favorite finish. I have always wanted to make a neutral quilt. It is my favorite color palette. Most of my rooms are a warm white and I try to create neutral spaces throughout my home. I love neutral but warm attained by adding chunky textures, varying materials and lots of resting spaces for the eyes. My husband often jokes that he is surprised I don’t make all white quilts.

When Art Gallery Fabrics asked me to make a quilt for their LookBook-I was both overjoyed because I love Art Gallery and because I knew their Soften the Volume Collection was perfect for my Starglass quilt. It was time for me to make my neutral quilt. This color palette was exactly what I wanted in a neutral quilt. It had warm creams and beige, tone on tone prints and a soft white background. The prints were perfect with just enough contrast. The half-yard bundle to make this starglass quilt can be found at Home Grown Home Sewn.

The subtle palette fit in with my sewing room. I have lots of warm wood tones in a neutral room with creamy walls. I loved cutting this fabric. Art Gallery fabric is so soft and silky and when combined with these soothing tones-it was a real treat. I found myself smiling an awful lot.

The finished quilt was everything I wanted. It was warm and had just enough contrast to make your eye search for the blocks. I had to really think about how to use a tone on tone collection and still have my pattern show. I selected the darkest prints that were warm beige. These would become the stars. I also decided to use the prints with the most white as the background for the star. Every other block was scrappy and so much fun to piece together. I could make adjustments as the quilt came together.

I usually make quilts with the specific season, person or room in mind. This quilt was for my bedroom. It turned out exactly how I had hoped. It added to the calm and clean look of our room. It felt restful and cozy. I went with straight line quilting about a 1/2″ apart. It was a simple choice for the soft palette with just the right amount of texture.

I love how the stars are visible in every block. Even with scrappy designs you can select a focal point. For the backing I used an Art Gallery Blender called Caffe Latte. This is a solid with just the tiniest hints of prints. True to its name, they make perfect blenders in a project. This fabric also worked well as a slight contrast backing but still neutral.

Photographing this quilt required some thinking especially in the dead of winter. The white snow covered ground made a neutral quilt all but disappear. We finally ended up finding a dark wall which allowed the quilt to really pop.